Oakridge JMUN 2025
Disarmament and International Security Committee
Agenda: Conventional Arms Control
at the Regional and Subregional Levels
CONTENTS
I. Letter from the Executive Board...........................................................................................................3
II. Rules of Procedure………………………….………………………….………………………………………..….………………….4
III. UN General Assembly - Introduction…….………………………….………………………….……………………..7
IV. Agenda………………………………………..…………….………………………….…………………………………..….………………….9
V. Bibliography and Additional Resources…………………..………………………….…………………………….11
I. LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
Dear Delegates,
Welcome to the Disarmament and International Security Committee simulation at
OakJMUN 2025!
The Background Guide will provide you with procedural context and a brief overview
of the agenda item. Its only intended purpose is to provide you with enough
information to commence your own research, from your assigned portfolio’s
perspective.
If any questions arise–about committee mandate or procedure–please reach out.
Best regards,
D. Sai Srikar
Co-Chairperson
srikar.work13@[Link]
Alishaan M.
Co-Chairperson
II. RULES OF PROCEDURE
This simulation will adhere to the General Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, particularly
those in chapter XIII concerning conduct of debate and voting. Relevant excerpts
from the rules are provided below.
Rule 108 - Quorum
The Chairman may declare a meeting open and permit the debate to proceed when
at least one quarter of the members of the committee are present. The presence of a
majority of the members shall be required for any decision to be taken.
Rule 109 - Speeches
No representative may address the committee without having previously obtained
the permission of the Chairman. The Chairman shall call upon speakers in the order
in which they signify their desire to speak. The Chairman may call a speaker to order
if his remarks are not relevant to the subject under discussion.
Rule 113 - Points of Order
During the discussion of any matter, a representative may rise to a point of order, and
the point of order shall be immediately decided by the Chairman in accordance with
the rules of procedure. A representative may appeal against the ruling of the
Chairman. The appeal shall be immediately put to the vote, and the Chairman's
ruling shall stand unless overruled by a majority of the members present and voting.
A representative rising to a point of order may not speak on the substance of the
matter under discussion.
Rule 114 - Time limit on speeches
The committee may limit the time to be allowed to each speaker and the number of
times each representative may speak on any question. Before a decision is taken, two
representatives may speak in favour of, and two against, a proposal to set such limits.
When the debate is limited and a representative exceeds his allotted time, the
Chairman shall call him to order without delay.
Rule 115 - Closing of list of speakers, right of reply
During the course of a debate, the Chairman may announce the list of speakers and,
with the consent of the committee, declare the list closed. He may, however, accord
the right of reply to any member if a speech delivered after he has declared the list
closed makes this desirable.
Rule 116 - Adjournment of debate
During the discussion of any matter, a representative may move the adjournment of
the debate on the item under discussion. In addition to the proposer of the motion,
two representatives may speak in favour of, and two against, the motion, after which
the motion shall be immediately put to the vote. The Chairman may limit the time to
be allowed to speakers under this rule.
Rule 117 - Closure of debate
A representative may at any time move the closure of the debate on the item under
discussion, whether or not any other representative has signified his wish to speak.
Permission to speak on the closure of the debate shall be accorded only to two
speakers opposing the closure, after which the motion shall be immediately put to
the vote. If the committee is in favour of the closure, the Chairman shall declare the
closure of the debate. The Chairman may limit the time to be allowed to speakers
under this rule.
Rule 118 - Suspension or adjournment of the meeting
During the discussion of any matter, a representative may move the suspension or
the adjournment of the meeting. Such motions shall not be debated but shall be
immediately put to the vote. The Chairman may limit the time to be allowed to the
speaker moving the suspension or adjournment of the meeting.
Rule 119 - Order of procedural motions
Subject to rule 113, the motions indicated below shall have precedence in the
following order over all other proposals or motions before the meeting:
(a) To suspend the meeting;
(b)To adjourn the meeting;
(c) To adjourn the debate on the item under discussion;
(d)To close the debate on the item under discussion.
Rule 122 - Withdrawal of motions
A motion may be withdrawn by its proposer at any time before voting on it has
commenced, provided that the motion has not been amended. A motion thus
withdrawn may be reintroduced by any member.
Rule 123 - Reconsideration of proposals
When a proposal has been adopted or rejected, it may not be reconsidered at the
same session unless the committee, by a two-thirds majority of the members
present and voting, so decides. Permission to speak on a motion to reconsider shall
be accorded only to two speakers opposing the motion, after which it shall be
immediately put to the vote.
Rule 124 - Voting rights
Each member of the committee shall have one vote.
Rule 125 - Majority required
Decisions of committees shall be made by a majority of the members present and
voting.
Rule 126 - Meaning of the phrase “members present and voting”
For the purposes of these rules, the phrase "members present and voting" means
members casting an affirmative or negative vote. Members which abstain from
voting are considered as not voting.
Rule 127 - Method of voting
The committee shall normally vote by show of hands or by standing, but any
representative may request a roll-call. The roll-call shall be taken in the English
alphabetical order of the names of the members. The name of each member shall be
called in any roll-call, and its representative shall reply "yes", "no" or "abstention". The
result of the voting shall be inserted in the record in the English alphabetical order of
the names of the members.
Rule 128 - Conduct during voting
After the Chairman has announced the beginning of voting, no representative shall
interrupt the voting except on a point of order in connection with the actual conduct
of the voting. The Chairman may permit members to explain their votes, either
before or after the voting, except when the vote is taken by secret ballot. The
Chairman may limit the time to be allowed for such explanations. The Chairman shall
not permit the proposer of a proposal or of an amendment to explain his vote on his
own proposal or amendment.
Rule 129 - Division of proposals and amendments
A representative may move that parts of a proposal or of an amendment should be
voted on separately. If objection is made to the request for division, the motion for
division shall be voted upon. Permission to speak on the motion for division shall be
given only to two speakers in favour and two speakers against. If the motion for
division is carried, those parts of the proposal or of the amendment which are
approved shall then be put to the vote as a whole. If all operative parts of the
proposal or of the amendment have been rejected, the proposal or the amendment
shall be considered to have been rejected as a whole.
Rule 130 - Voting on amendments
When an amendment is moved to a proposal, the amendment shall be voted on
first. When two or more amendments are moved to a proposal, the committee shall
first vote on the amendment furthest removed in substance from the original
proposal and then on the amendment next furthest removed therefrom, and so on
until all the amendments have been put to the vote. Where, however, the adoption
of one amendment necessarily implies the rejection of another amendment, the
latter amendment shall not be put to the vote. If one or more amendments are
adopted, the amended proposal shall then be voted upon. A motion is considered an
amendment to a proposal if it merely adds to, deletes from or revises part of the
proposal.
Rule 131 - Voting on proposals
If two or more proposals relate to the same question, the committee shall, unless it
decides otherwise, vote on the proposals in the order in which they have been
submitted. The committee may, after each vote on a proposal, decide whether to
vote on the next proposal.
Rule 133 - Equally divided votes
If a vote is equally divided on matters other than elections, the proposal shall be
regarded as rejected.
III. UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY - INTRODUCTION
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ of the
Organization. Comprising all Member States, it provides a unique forum for
multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the
Charter of the United Nations.
According to the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly may:
● Consider and approve the United Nations budget and establish the financial
assessments of Member States
● Elect the non-permanent members of the Security Council and the members
of other United Nations councils and organs and, on the recommendation of
the Security Council, appoint the Secretary-General
● Consider and make recommendations on the general principles of
cooperation for maintaining international peace and security, including
disarmament
● Discuss any question relating to international peace and security and, except
where a dispute or situation is currently being discussed by the Security
Council, make recommendations on it
● Discuss, with the same exception, and make recommendations on any
questions within the scope of the Charter or affecting the powers and
functions of any organ of the United Nations
● Initiate studies and make recommendations to promote international political
cooperation, the development and codification of international law, the
realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and international
collaboration in the economic, social, humanitarian, cultural, educational and
health fields
● Make recommendations for the peaceful settlement of any situation that
might impair friendly relations among countries
● Consider reports from the Security Council and other United Nations organs
The Assembly may also take action in cases of a threat to the peace, breach of peace
or act of aggression, when the Security Council has failed to act owing to the
negative vote of a permanent member. In such instances, according to its “Uniting
for peace” resolution of 3 November 1950, the Assembly may consider the matter
immediately and recommend to its Members collective measures to maintain or
restore international peace and security.
The Assembly meets in regular sessions from September to December each year,
and thereafter as required. It discusses specific issues through dedicated agenda
items or sub-items, which lead to the adoption of resolutions.
Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations has an equal vote.
Votes taken on designated important issues – such as recommendations on peace
and security, the election of Security Council and Economic and Social Council
members, and budgetary questions – require a two-thirds majority of Member
States, but other questions are decided by a simple majority. That said, following
informal consultations among Member States during which proposals are
negotiated, the majority of resolutions are adopted without a vote (i.e., by consensus).
There are six Main Committees of the General Assembly.
The six Main Committees are: the Disarmament and International Security
Committee (First Committee); the Economic and Financial Committee (Second
Committee); the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee (Third Committee);
the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee); the
Administrative and Budgetary Committee (Fifth Committee); and the Legal
Committee (Sixth Committee).
Each committee deals with a particular topic and is allocated agenda items
according to the topic. A report is issued to the plenary for each item allocated to a
Main Committee.
All are committees of the whole: all UN member states participate in them.
The First Committee, one of the six Main Committees of the General Assembly, is
allocated agenda items related to disarmament and international security.
The First Committee submits a separate report to the plenary on every agenda item
allocated to it. Each report:
● indicates the meetings at which the item was considered
● summarizes the committee's consideration of the item
● identifies the sponsors of draft resolutions
● reports the vote, if any, of Member States on draft texts
● transmits the final version of draft resolutions and/or decisions recommended
to the plenary for adoption
● symbol pattern
○ A/session/-
○ example: A/79/408
The plenary considers each report and votes on the draft resolutions or decisions it
contains.
For example, the General Assembly adopted 43 resolutions based on the report of
the First Committee (A/79/408).
IV. AGENDA
Conventional arms control at the regional and subregional levels
Disarmament
Since the birth of the United Nations, the goals of multilateral disarmament and
arms limitation have been central to the Organization’s efforts to maintain
international peace and security.
The UN has given highest priority to reducing and eventually eliminating nuclear
weapons, destroying chemical weapons, and strengthening the prohibition of
biological weapons – all of which pose the direst threats to humankind. While these
objectives have remained constant over the years, the scope of deliberations and
negotiations has changed as political realities and the international situation has
evolved.
The global community is addressing the spread of small arms, light weapons and
landmines, which pose a threat to societies and harm civilians, especially women and
children. It's acknowledged that different types of weapons impact people of all
genders and ages differently.
The UN is also focusing on the impact of new information, telecommunications
technologies and other emerging technologies on international security.
Through global efforts, several multilateral treaties and instruments have been
established with the aim of regulating, restricting, or eliminating certain weapons.
These include the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear
Weapons, the Biological and Chemical Weapons Convention, the Anti-Personnel
Landmine Convention, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the Convention on
Certain Conventional Weapons and the Arms Trade Treaty.
What are conventional arms?
Conventional arms are weapons other than weapons of mass destruction. They are
the most commonly known and widely used weapons in conflict and crime settings
and encompass a wide range of equipment, including battle tanks, armoured
combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft and unmanned
combat aerial vehicles (UCAV), attack helicopters, warships, missile and missile
launchers, landmines, cluster munitions, small arms, and lights weapons and
ammunition.
The UN Charter does not forbid its Member States to own and use conventional arms
when this is done in conformity with international law. This is the reason why the
terms “arms control” and “arms limitations” are more often used than “disarmament”
when referring to conventional arms.
Some conventional weapons, however, may cause humanitarian concern either
because of the way they are used or may be used, or because of their design which
makes them incompatible with international humanitarian law. Early efforts to
address such concerns were made already in the 19th century. A more recent
example of legally binding regulations and limitations in the use of conventional
weapons is the 1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain
Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have
Indiscriminate Effects and its protocols, which cover the following: non-detectable
fragments; mines, booby-traps and other devices; incendiary weapons; blinding laser
weapons and explosive remnants of war.
Some conventional arms, such as anti-personnel landmines or cluster munitions, are
inherently indiscriminate and cause unacceptable humanitarian harm. For these
reasons States have agreed on their total ban and elimination, as in the case of the
1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer
of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction and the 2008 Convention on
Cluster Munitions. Efforts to regulate adequately other conventional arms issues
such as explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA), improvised explosive devices
(IEDs) as well as ammunition, are being considered in several multilateral fora,
including the UN General Assembly.
Global regulatory frameworks for trade and usage of conventional weapons are
relatively recent and include:
ATT (2013)
Arms Trade Treaty
UN PoA (2001)
Programme of Action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms
and light weapons in all its aspects
ITI (2005)
International Tracing Instrument to enable states to identify and trace, in a timely
and reliable manner, illicit small arms and light weapons
Firearms Protocol (2001)
The UN Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, their
Parts and Components and Ammunition
Transparency in armament is also a regulatory measure to promote confidence
and diminish incidents of tension among States. In this connection, two global
instruments for which UNODA maintains electronic public databases exist:
The UN Register of Conventional Arms
The UN Standardized Instrument for Reporting Military Expenditures
V. BIBLIOGRAPHY
● Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly -
[Link]
● United Nations Charter, Chapter IV: The General Assembly -
[Link]
● Conventional arms -
[Link]
_____________________________________________________________________________________
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Previous resolutions -
[Link] (79th session, 2024)
[Link] (78th session, 2023)
[Link] (77th session, 2022)
Relevant instruments -
Register of Conventional Arms
Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional
Weapons which may be deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate
Effectsertain Conventional Weapons
Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of
Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction
Arms Trade Treaty
Convention on Cluster Munitions